Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the Senate's second-longest serving member, has died

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

On April 21, 1945, Inouye was grievously wounded while leading an assault on a heavily-defended ridge near San Terenzo in Tuscany, Italy called Colle Musatello. The ridge served as a strongpoint along the strip of German fortifications known as the Gothic Line, which represented the last and most unyielding line of German defensive works in Italy. As he led his platoon in a flanking maneuver, three German machine guns opened fire from covered positions just 40 yards away, pinning his men to the ground. Inouye stood up to attack and was shot in the stomach; ignoring his wound, he proceeded to attack and destroy the first machine gun nest with hand grenades and fire from his Thompson submachine gun. After being informed of the severity of his wound by his platoon sergeant, he refused treatment and rallied his men for an attack on the second machine gun position, which he also successfully destroyed before collapsing from blood loss.

As his squad distracted the third machine gunner, Inouye crawled toward the final bunker, eventually drawing within 10 yards. As he raised himself up and cocked his arm to throw his last grenade into the fighting position, a German inside the bunker fired a rifle grenade that struck him on the right elbow, severing most of his arm and leaving his own primed grenade reflexively "clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore".[10] Inouye's horrified soldiers moved to his aid, but he shouted for them to keep back out of fear his severed fist would involuntarily relax and drop the grenade. As the German inside the bunker reloaded his rifle, Inouye pried the live grenade from his useless right hand and transferred it to his left. As the German aimed his rifle to finish him off, Inouye tossed the grenade off-hand into the bunker and destroyed it. He stumbled to his feet and continued forward, silencing the last German resistance with a one-handed burst from his Thompson before being wounded in the leg and tumbling unconscious to the bottom of the ridge. When he awoke to see the concerned men of his platoon hovering over him, his only comment before being carried away was to gruffly order them to return to their positions, since, as he pointed out, "nobody called off the war!"[11]

The remainder of Inouye's mutilated right arm was later amputated at a field hospital without proper anesthesia, as he had been given too much morphine at an aid station and it was feared any more would lower his blood pressure enough to kill him.[12]

Although Inouye had lost his right arm, he remained in the military until 1947 and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. At the time of his leaving the Army, he was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Inouye was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in this action, with the award later being upgraded to the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton (alongside 19 other Nisei servicemen who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were believed to have been denied proper recognition of their bravery due to their race).[13]

In short, we would do well to remember that as a Washington political insider, Inouye spent sufficient time to ensure his reelection, fought hard for pork-barrel spending for his state, and learned the Washington two-step.

In short, we would do well to remember that as a Washington political insider, Inouye spent sufficient time to ensure his reelection, fought hard for pork-barrel spending for his state, and learned the Washington two-step.

Professional politicians like Inouye make my skin crawl.

Hawaiian law requires that the appointee be of the same party as the person that is being replaced. Abercrombie has no leeway on this.

Originally Posted by NJCardFan

True. He's Hawaii's answer to Ted Kennedy. That said, I think him for his military service and my prayers are with his family.

Not true. The only things that Inouye and Kennedy have in common are party affiliation and time in the senate. Inouye was always pro-defense, and while we can disagree with his positions on a lot of issues, never forget that he was a patriot and a courageous man who never abandoned his men, even while grieviously wounded. Teddy Kennedy was a coward who left a woman to drown rather than attempt to save her from the results of his own drunken idiocy, and his attempts to undermine American policy and advance his career by direct negotiations with the Soviets during both the Carter and Reagan administrations border on treason. Comparing the two does disservice to a genuinely good man, and elevates a genuinely bad one. Don't make that mistake.

True. So what you do is give the school staff the power to stop whatever happens. If it's verbal teasing, you give them the power to tell the kids to stop it. If it's rock throwing, you give them the...